


At Last

by amitiel



Category: FFXV - Fandom, Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Car Accident, Fluff, Gay, Gladnis, Happy Ending, M/M, Past Lives, Promptis - Freeform, Soulmate AU, a little touch of angst not too much, future lives, gladnis if you squint really hard, long lost lovers, mental health, promtis - Freeform, reunited, soulmate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:07:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25601056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amitiel/pseuds/amitiel
Summary: Prompto wakes up in the hospital with no memory of who or what he is. A mysterious benefactor is paying for his bills, claiming that his employee hit him with a car. But is that all there is to it? If so, why is Prompto having vivid waking dreams, remembering a life that never was. After all, it couldn't be real. Could it?
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia/Ignis Scientia, Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum
Comments: 21
Kudos: 146





	At Last

**Author's Note:**

  * For [star54kar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/star54kar/gifts).



_Prompto wanted to scream for Noctis, to tell him that he shouldn’t go alone, that walking tall and being alone were two different things. But Ignis and Gladio were standing still, stoic in their grief. They already had each other, but once Noctis was gone, what would Prompto have? Was he resigned to his fate of being without the love of his life time and time again? Was he just going to have to deal with his grief alone once the dawn came?_

_“I’ll find you!” Prompto called out to Noctis before he opened the door to the throne room. Noctis hesitated, his back to Prompto, as if afraid that if he turned around then he would lose his resolve. They had so much time together, and yet it wasn’t enough. It could never be too much. “I’ll find you in the next life! I swear it!”_

_Prompto could see Noctis’s shoulder shake a bit, and he knew that the love of his life was crying just as he was. They had to say goodbye, they had to do this, but it wasn’t forever. Prompto wouldn’t let it be forever. Ten years of darkness had taught him as much, and he knew that he would defy the very will of Bahamut if it meant that he got to be with Noctis again._

_“I’ll be waiting,” Noctis replied, his back still turned to Prompto. Prompto impulsively took a step forward as Noctis opened the door to the throne room, only to be stopped by Gladio and Ignis’s hands on his shoulders._

_He cried out for Noctis, attempted to reach him one last time, his tears flowing and cascading around him in a flurry of pain and torment. Noctis was gone, though, and the door closed on their future together. Prompto felt his knees go weak, and Ignis and Gladio caught him as they all ended up sitting on the floor, crying into each other’s arms._

_It wasn’t fair. Noctis had just come back. And now he was gone again. Prompto didn’t care what it took, he would find Noctis in the next life and the next and the next. Noctis was his soulmate, the love that he never knew was possible. Noctis was his heart and home. And now he was gone._

*** 

“You are a lucky one,” a voice said as he opened his eyes, looking around at a sterile hospital room. There was a doctor standing next to him, reading his vital signs “You were in a coma for about two months. It’s a good thing they didn’t give up on you.”

“What… What happened?” he asked, his voice hoarse and his throat aching. “Wh-Where am I?”

With a start he realized that he didn’t know who he was. How could he have forgotten something so important? The doctor said he was in a coma for two months. Was there an accident? What was going on? He felt strangely empty, but he couldn’t even be sure why. It was as if he was just an empty vessel, searching through the void to find meaning.

“You were hit by a car,” the doctor replied. “I’m going to ask you a series of questions, and I need you to be as honest as you can with me. What is your name?”

“I don’t know,” he replied, looking down at his freckled skin.

“Do you have any family?”

“I don’t know.”

“What year is it?”

“I don’t know.”

“What is twelve divided by three?”

“Four.” He was surprised at himself for being able to remember basic math but not about his own personal life. 

“I suspected as much,” the doctor concluded. “It looks as if you have amnesia. Now, I will try and fill in the gaps where I can. Your name is Prompto Argentum, and the year is 2020. You’re currently in Insomnia General, located in the capital of Lucis, Insomnia.”

“Who is king?” Prompto asked, a vague memory in the recesses of his mind. It wouldn’t surface though, and when he blinked the memory disappeared.

“King?” the doctor asked in surprise. “There is no king. We’re in a democracy. We have been for centuries now.”

“Oh,” Prompto replied, looking down at his hands again. They were his hands, but it all felt disjointed. “Do I have a home to go to?”

The doctor frowned then pursed his lips. “There will be a case worker assigned to you since you have such severe amnesia. You will likely be here for some time recovering since your body has atrophied, then you will go to a rehab facility to rebuild your strength. After that, you will be sent to a group home so you can get back on your feet.”

Prompto nodded in understanding, recognizing that this was going to be a long road to recovery that he was likely not going to enjoy. It surprised him that he wasn’t entirely shocked that no one was there for him, that he was on his own. Somehow, he knew this was how his life always had been and always would be. It was just this time he had the emptiness in his memory to match it.

***

Prompto didn’t have a visitor to the hospital until it was time for him to be transported to the rehab facility. He had regained a lot of his motor skills, but his memory was still a blank and there was much work to be done before he would be able to walk on his own. The accident could have been worse, he discovered. It was a miracle that he was only in a coma for two months with so many broken bones in his body. The memory loss was something that they weren’t expecting but weren’t wholly surprised at either.

What did surprise Prompto was the vivid dreams that he was having, dreams that started blurring into his waking reality, frightening him at times. He could vividly remember a time when he knew three other men, when they traveled together, when he fell in love with a prince. It was all impossible. There was magic and an immortal enemy, a moment when he had to say goodbye to the love of his life. His name was the same, but everything about him was different. 

The therapists and psychologists there said it was a part of the trauma, that it was a way for him to cope with so much that had happened in such a short period of time. When that didn’t seem to do it, though, they tried putting him on anti-psychotics, speculating that he had perhaps developed some form of schizophrenia or a type of psychosis. Prompto was apt to agree when it turned out that the medication seemed to help to some extent, at least taking away the vivid things he was seeing during the day.

“Are you ready?” the doctor asked as he stepped into the hospital room, a smile on his face. “The rehab facility is looking forward to having you.”

“O-Okay,” Prompto said with an uncertain quiver. He didn’t have any money to his name, didn’t have a place to live, and he was all alone. The only thing he had known for the past six months was that the person who hit him had been paying for his hospital bills and for his rehab stay. After that, Prompto knew he was on his own.

“Pardon me,” a man said in a Tenebraean accent at the door. Prompto looked up and felt like he was about to faint. Standing at the door in a perfectly tailored black suit was a man with light brown hair and green eyes. He wore glasses and looked exactly like someone he had seen in one of his dreams. What was his name? “Is this the room of Prompto Argentum?”

“Yes,” the doctor replied, looking at the man with a frown. “And you are?”

The man stepped inside as he simultaneously took out a business card and handed it to the doctor. “My name is Ignis Scientia. I’m here on behalf of Noctis Lucis Caelum. He is requesting that Prompto be moved to his estate in Cape Caem to continue his recovery. He is prepared with a full staff ready to assist.”

“Who is that?” Prompto asked in confusion. The name sounded familiar, like he had heard it before. It resonated within his soul, as if it was a name that he had heard for his entire life. But the hospital had reassured him that he was very much alone, that no one was looking for him. So why was Ignis here?

“Noctis Lucis Caelum is the richest man in Eos and the leader in renewable energy,” Ignis explained, as if this was what he did all the time. “One of his drivers hit you while they were taking him to a gala. He has been paying the bill for your hospital stay.”

“Oh,” Prompto replied. So it was just a charitable offer done out of pity and guilt. “Thank you for the offer, but I don’t want to take advantage of his time or money or anything like that.”

“I assure you, it is not the case.” Ignis looked at him as if he was expecting that answer. “If I understood correctly, you don’t have a family to go back to, correct? Why not take this offer? He is quite understanding and will make you feel right at home.”

The doctor looked at him with an eagerness that indicated that it was a very good idea for him to accept the offer. “Umm…. Okay. I guess I can go.”

“Excellent,” Ignis remarked, taking out his phone swiftly. “I will inform him straight away.”

He left the hospital room, and the doctor immediately turned to him. “This is a very good stroke of luck for you. Noctis is very reclusive and aloof, doing most of his work behind the scenes. Not only will you get to stay with someone who has such a vast fortune, but you’ll also get to see things no one else has either.”

“I don’t want to spy on him,” Prompto pointed out with a frown. “I wouldn’t take advantage of someone’s kindness like that.”

“No, no, of course not,” the doctor agreed quickly. “All I’m saying is that you will get to see and experience things that others never will. Enjoy it for as long as it lasts.”

Prompto nodded, not necessarily understanding what the doctor was getting at, but there was a lot he didn’t remember and know. It was as if someone just plucked him out of an entirely different universe and planted him there without any other word or information. When Ignis returned, Prompto looked at him curiously, wondering if his dreams were more reality than the world he was in now.

***

Cape Caem was a far more beautiful place than Prompto suspected, and there was a strong sense of nostalgia making his heart ache as they pulled up to the vast estate on the seashore. Something somewhere in the back of his mind he felt a strange memory, like this was one of the last places he enjoyed time with a lost lover before everything went so horribly wrong. Yet there was still nothing there, and the world had long since changed without him anyway.

Still bound to a wheelchair most of the time, Ignis helped Prompto hobble out of the car until he was seated comfortably. There were no bags for him to pack, nothing but his wallet that had his Lucian ID in there. The rest was empty. It really was as if he almost didn’t even exist there before he opened his eyes. 

“This will be home for as long as you wish,” Ignis advised him as they approached the sprawling manor, a three story house with too many windows for Prompto to count. It looked like something that came out of a Victorian dream, like it had been built so many years ago and was well preserved, handed down from son to son.

“Thank you,” Prompto said as the front doors opened, revealing a marble floor in the foyer and sweeping curtains lining the windows and glass doors. The back of the manor overlooked the sparkling clear water, and Prompto felt a sense of longing in his heart he couldn’t quite explain. “It’s beautiful.”

“The estate has been in the Lucis Caelum family for a long time,” Ignis explained. There was the sound of footsteps coming down the hall of the west wing, and Prompto looked over and saw a very tall and muscular man with tan skin, amber eyes, and brown hair. He tried to remember where he had seen him before. Like Ignis, it had been in his dreams, and he couldn’t remember his name.

“Welcome Prompto,” the man said with a grin, as if he was greeting a long lost friend. “I’m Gladio. Ignis and I are going to be helping you with your rehab.”

“I thought you said it was fully staffed at the hospital?” Prompto asked Ignis in confusion. Was this some sort of trick?

“It is,” Gladio elaborated. “I’m a certified physician and rehab specialist, and Ignis is a genius essentially and can pretty much do everything, so he’s my assistant.”

“Shush now,” Ignis chided Gladio, but there was a flirtatious air about them that Prompto immediately picked up on. Something in the back of his mind told him that of course they would be together. They were last time, so this time shouldn’t be any different. 

Last time?

Prompto felt confused by everything going on, but there was nothing he could do about it. Instead, he could only go with the flow. And right now there was no place he could really be. It was too much for him to be on his own, and he needed the help. Maybe this way things would feel just a little less lonely.

“Is Noctis here?” Prompto asked as they took him past empty room after empty room. He looked at them questioningly, noticing the flicker of a frown in both of their eyes. “I would like to thank the person who is helping me.”

“He is here,” Ignis replied hesitantly. “But he is currently busy with work. I will tell him that you are here and wishing to thank him. I cannot promise he will be able to speak with you yet.”

“Oh,” Prompto said, looking down at his hands. “That’s understandable. If you can just tell him thank you for me. I’d go myself but…”

“You are quite alright,” Ignis interrupted for him. He wheeled Prompto into a large bedroom, one with a sweeping canopy bed, a couch, a television, and even a balcony and private bathroom. “These will be your quarters. Please do not try to wander the estate without Gladio or I to support you. At least not until you are strong enough.”

“I won’t,” Prompto readily agreed. The last thing he needed was to stumble upon something he shouldn’t have seen or to end up falling and getting hurt. For all he knew, the Lucis Caelums were secretly gangsters that no one wanted to openly admit to Prompto. “Thank you for your help.”

“Anytime,” Gladio replied for them both. “Let’s take a look at the medication you’re taking really quick. Most times the doctors are accurate there, but sometimes they put people on stuff they don’t need.”

There was a small bag on the back of the wheelchair, a bag of medications and instructions for Prompto to follow. Gladio looked inside it, taking out a couple medications when he was done. Prompto recognized them as the medications they had given him to stop his hallucinations. Without it, the line between reality and his dreams would blur. 

“You don’t need these ones,” Gladio said before Prompto could try and explain what they were for. “You were in a car accident. You don’t have schizophrenia.”

“But I hallucinate and-” Prompto tried, but Gladio cut him off.

“I read your file,” Gladio explained with a nod. “In my medical opinion, you’re coping with the trauma and loss. The hallucinations should subside once you’re able to process what happened to you.”

“Are you a therapist too?” Prompto asked, concerned. What if he was taking away something he genuinely needed?

“No, but I am a psychiatrist,” Ignis replied with a nod. “I happen to agree with Gladio’s diagnosis. The chances of you having schizophrenia is slim. It is likely another mental effect of the accident.”

Prompto nodded, feeling more than a bit out of his depth. He felt like there was something going on behind the scenes that he just wasn’t privy to yet, something that he would be able to figure out on his own in time. Right now, though, he could only hope that they knew what they were doing and hope for the best.

***

True to form, Gladio worked Prompto hard while Ignis took care of everything else, helping him regain his strength. They worked tirelessly in one sense, where every time Gladio told Prompto that it was time to exercise, they would. In another sense, Prompto stayed in a quiet and calm environment, relaxing and just waiting for his body to heal. The estate was gorgeous and expansive, making it an ideal place to heal.

Whenever Prompto wasn’t working on healing, he would wheel around in the wheelchair, often looking out at the water longingly, trying to figure out who he was. Over time he used the wheelchair less and less, and a few months later he was able to spend most of his time walking around with a cane. It came as a great relief to him once they determined that he could walk about by himself. 

It wasn’t that Prompto hated to be around Ignis and Gladio. Quite the opposite, actually. He enjoyed their company very much, but there were times that he needed to get away and try and sort things out. Since Gladio had taken away his psychiatric medication, the hallucinations came back in full force, often times scaring him when he least expected it and always confusing him greatly. 

There were times when he could’ve sworn that he was living in another world, that Lucis was much older and a much more magical place. That also made it a more frightening place. There was a young man with black hair that he saw everywhere he went, someone he felt like he knew and loved dearly. But it was impossible, wasn’t it? And he couldn’t even remember his name anyway.

“We’ve spoken with Noctis and he has agreed,” Ignis said one evening while they were sitting down for dinner. “You are healed enough to be sent on your way back to Insomnia tomorrow. Now that’s not to say that we will abandon you completely. Noctis is offering you a job in his company, pending you are successful at it.”

“Oh,” Prompto said, looking at his plate. He had foolishly gotten used to living there, gotten used to being friends with Ignis and Gladio while longing to meet Noctis, though he couldn’t explain why. Of course it was only a matter of time before he was sent back. If anything, Noctis was being far too generous, especially since he wasn’t the one who hit him with the car. “Of course. I really appreciate all that you have done for me. Noctis too, even though I never got to meet him and see what he looks like or anything.”

The conversation ended, dying out into an uncomfortable silence as they finished the rest of his food. He never did figure out what they knew that they hadn’t told him, but whatever it was didn’t matter now. Tomorrow he would be on his way back to Insomnia, where he would spend the rest of his life wondering who he was and who his mysterious benefactor was.

That night, Prompto made his way to bed, limping slightly now with only minor assistance from his cane. They were right. He was healed enough to return to Insomnia. Yet he felt like he was missing out on something, that he was leaving something so important behind. If only he could figure out what. He spent the better part of an hour tearfully trying to remember what had been forgotten until he fell into a fitful sleep.

***

_Prompto smiled and laughed as he and Noctis walked the shore, holding hands and looking out at the beautiful water. It had been a perfect day, a day where no one could trouble or bother them. They didn’t have those enough. They didn’t have enough of anything together. Too much was never enough as far as Prompto was concerned, especially with the effervescent sense of impending doom around them._

_“We should move here,” Noctis announced suddenly, surprising Prompto. “Plant down some roots, have our own place. Just forget about the world, you know?”_

_As much as Prompto wanted to smile, he couldn’t. He knew what Noctis was talking about. He wanted to forget about being a prince, to forget the world and only have each other. Had it been any other life, they might have had that chance. But with so much weighing heavily on all of their hearts, least of all Noctis’s, he knew that it was impossible._

_“Maybe next go around,” Prompto attempted, trying to console Noctis through the harsh reality of the future. Ignis liked to pretend that Prompto was blind to the truth. As hard as it was, Prompto could see far enough ahead. He knew that not everyone was making out the other side. He just hoped that he would have a little more time with Noctis before that moment came._

_“Let’s do it!” Noctis insisted. Prompto looked at his intensely fierce eyes, a raging storm within them as if his soul was determinedly in turmoil. “In our next lives I’ll build a place so freaking huge that you can’t miss it. You’ll go there and immediately know it’s mine. So when you step foot inside, you’ll feel like this is where you were always meant to be.”_

_“Can there be a lot of windows?” Prompto inquired, allowing himself to indulge in Noctis’s fantasy just a little bit. “Big sweeping ones with those whooshy curtains? This place calls for whooshy curtains.”_

_“Definitely,” Noctis affirmed. They stopped walking and looked at each other as Noctis took Prompto’s hand in both of his, holding it tenderly as if he were about to propose marriage. “You’ll have trouble remembering at first, but when you do, you’ll know everything you need to. And when the dawn comes I’ll be waiting along the shore for you. Right here in this spot. And you’ll know that no matter where the universe takes us, we’ll always end up together. Always.”_

_Prompto teared up at the thought, wanting nothing more than for it to be true. Before he could say anything, Noctis kissed him, a deep and passionate and yearning kiss. They both lost each other to their tears, to the harmony that their lips created, to the thought that maybe their next lives would be a bit easier. Whatever the case, Prompto knew right then and there that he would do anything and everything he could to savor each moment he had with Noctis._

***

Prompto bolted upright in bed, looking around wildly as he tried to gain his bearings. He was in the same room, alone, but everything felt different now. Everything felt purposeful, like each aspect of the estate had been carefully selected. For him. It was all for him.

Try as he might, Prompto couldn’t convince himself that he wasn’t going crazy. The dream kept running through his mind, over and over and over again. Scrambling, Prompto looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table and realized that they were getting close to dawn. He was slow, needed time to move, and sunrise was rapidly approaching. There was little time to waste.

Prompto ignored the ache in his limbs as he got up, pulling an oversized sweater over his otherwise bare chest. At first he tried to get on sweatpants, but he struggled too much with it still and decided to forego pants altogether. He was wearing briefs, after all, and the sweater came down to his thighs anyway. It would work. It had to.

“Noctis,” Prompto whispered as he set out, remembering everything now. Noctis was waiting for him. Noctis. How long had he been waiting? Did he even remember or was this all just some sort of coincidence? Would Noctis even be waiting for him? Prompto had to find out.

He hurried his way out of the estate and towards the shore, the world already beginning to lighten from the sun rising over the horizon. The shore was rocky, his footing unstable, but Prompto took his time despite his beating heart and made his way down to the shoreline. 

Terrified of what might happen, Prompto didn’t dare look up until he was there, until there was no avoiding it anymore. He had to see if Noctis was waiting for him. The sun was rising, and he remembered. It didn’t matter how long it took him to reach the rocky shore. It didn’t matter that his bones were aching and his body was protesting each step. It didn’t matter that his legs were shaking and about to give out at any moment. All that mattered was Noctis.

Uncertainly, Prompto’s heart beat wildly in his chest as he looked up, expecting to see the worst. Standing on the shore, staring out at the rising sun, was the most beautiful man that Prompto had ever seen. His breath caught in his throat when the man turned to him, his black hair swaying in the wind. The sorrowful expression on his face turned to surprise then cautious joy as he looked at Prompto.

“Noctis,” Prompto called out softly, his voice traveling to him in the wind. He took a step forward, just a few feet away from him, unsure of whether or not he was dreaming of if this was all real. After another step, he realized that he wasn’t likely going to make it, that he would collapse if he kept going. But he had to. There was no other choice. He had to make it to Noctis. 

After the third or fourth step, Prompto felt his legs give out. He was close, but not close enough. An ache filled his heart that he had never experienced before as he began to fall, knowing that he had failed to reach him. Yet he didn’t hit the ground. Instead, strong arms were on him, pulling him into a warm embrace as he felt a jolt of something coursing through him. It was the pull of destiny, of fate bringing him back to the one person he couldn’t live without.

“Noctis,” Prompto whispered softly as his lover from his past life looked at him, held him. Noctis gently brushed a strand of hair out of his face, smiling at him but looking at him with a depth of worry that Prompto understood. “You really did build that big house with sweeping windows and curtains that woosh.” 

The relief was palpable for both of them, and they wasted little time. Noctis pressed his lips against Prompto’s, drawing him into his world and welcoming him back home. Prompto wrapped his arms around Noctis’s shoulders as their tongues desperately searched for one another, all pain and worry forgotten in just an instant. Nothing else mattered, not now that they had each other once again.

“Welcome home,” Noctis said finally when he pulled away from the kiss, still holding onto Prompto to keep him upright. “I thought I had lost you for good.”

“You could never lose me,” Prompto reassured him. “It just took me a little bit longer than expected.”

Noctis grinned, making Prompto flush red through his bright smile. “I would’ve waited a million lifetimes if that’s what it took. Come on. Let’s go home. We have a lot to catch up on.”

Despite the offer, Noctis and Prompto kissed for a while longer. As they made their way back into the house, Noctis guiding Prompto as his support, the world felt so much different, so much better. Prompto’s hand in Noctis’s felt natural, exciting yet calm all at once. Prompto felt like he was home.

Who knew how many lifetimes it took? It didn’t matter to him. All that mattered was that they were there together. At last.

**Author's Note:**

> Star54Kar gave me a prompt of "promptis" and that was it so this is what I came up with as a thank you to her. XD
> 
> I had an alternative ending that I considered writing, but the happy ending got put in instead, so here's a synopsis of the alternative ending:
> 
> _Prompto makes his way to the shore, convinced that he will find Noctis when he gets there. When he arrives he finds a grave marker and reads the tombstone. It's Noctis's grave. Ignis and Gladio find him and tell him that Noctis passed away because he was born too early and was actually about ninety years old when he met Ignis and Gladio again. Noctis had left specific instructions to find and take care of Prompto upon his passing. Prompto is devastated because he knew that they were supposed to be together, and he sobs because he has lost his soulmate before he even had a chance to be with him again. Eventually, Prompto never fully heals from his injuries and he succumbs to his wounds. In the near future, Prompto and Noctis are born again and they are finally together._
> 
> I went with the happier ending because it's supposed to be a thank you, and that was very angsty. XD I hope you liked it star! Thank you so much again <3


End file.
